(Yicai Global) July 30 -- Shares of Nata Opto-Electronic Material, a Chinese producer of high-purity electronic materials, hit an all-time high on news that its industrialized production technology for photoresist products passed expert scrutiny and is likely to break the monopoly of imported products in the market.

After jumping as much as 19.5 percent today, Nata Opto-Electronic [SHE:300346] finished at CNY82.28 (USD12.75), a 17.6 percent gain. Along with yesterday’s 20 percent increase, before the announcement was made, the stock has tripled in value over the past two and a half months.

Its majority-owned unit Ningbo Nata Opto-Electronic Material has completed the construction of an ArF photoresist plant, which will have an annual capacity of 25 tons, the Nanjing-based firm said yesterday.

ArF photoresist is a light-sensitive material used to form a patterned coating on a surface. It can be used to make a wide range of semiconductors, including chips for artificial intelligence, fifth-generation wireless networks and cloud computing.

Nata Opto-Electronic has invested CNY656 million (USD101.5 million) in the research and development of its self-developed photoresist products, which are the first to obtain customer assessments in China, paving the way to ending the monopoly of foreign players.

Editor: Futura Costaglione